About Medical Examiner's Office

更新日: 2020年5月25日

Role of Medical Examiner's Office

Established in March 1948 under Article 8 of the Corpse Autopsy and Preservation Law, the Tokyo
Medical Examiner's Office is responsible for conducting postmortem examination and for determining
the cause of death for all cases of unnatural death within Tokyo's 23 wards. The Tokyo Medical
Examiner's Office has served not only to protect the rights of deceased but also to contribute to
advances in medical knowledge. Valuable information into the cause of death gained during the
investigation process is shared with the medical education, clinical medicine, and preventive medicine
communities.
In the year 2018, the Tokyo Medical Examiner's Office performed 14,023 medical examination and
conducted 2,073 autopsies. The daily average number of medical examinations was 38.4 and that of
autopsies was 5.7. <The number of medical examination accounts for roughly 17.5% of the total number of
deaths in Tokyo's 23 wards.> That means that one out of 5.7 persons die of unknown causes or
accidents that require inspection by medical examiners.

Cases of death that require a medical examination

Postmortem examinations are conducted to determine the causes and circumstances of death.

1) Natural death which falls within these parameters:

(a) Death without the consultation of a physician
(b) Death by an unknown cause despite a physician's consultation
(c) Death under a medical condition different from that during treatment
(d) Death under unusual circumstances at onset of the disease and death
e.g.: -Acute sudden death -Sudden death of an apparently healthy person -Suspicious death through accident or overwork -Unusual circumstances

2) All suspected cases of immediate death caused by external factor sush as traffic

accident, fall, drowning, burn, suffocation, poisoning, explosion, hypothermia, electrocution,
or subsequent death due to injuries or conditions resulting from such external factors.